# Just on CNN: Oprah Winfrey seriously thinking about running for POTUS in 2020 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 8, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148 "2018-01-08T16:24:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/21 "2018-01-08T18:43:47Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > No no no no no no no no no no no no no. Not enough noes. Funny the way the plural of ‘no’ is spelled. Not as funny as the Democrats having a candidate crush on Oprah though. It’s as if they think their only problem is the lack of a presidential candidate, and that it can be solved with another lame attempt to copy the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/22 "2018-01-08T18:49:28Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > …Not as funny as the Democrats having a candidate crush on Oprah though. It’s as if they think their only problem is the lack of a presidential candidate, and that it can be solved with another lame attempt to copy the Republicans. This is how rumors get started. It hasn’t happened yet. With any luck, it won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/23 "2018-01-08T18:51:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Not enough noes. Funny the way the plural of ‘no’ is spelled. Well, my nose knows noes. As to Oprah2020, I’ll jump on the “Can we NOT” bandwagon. Why must we always chase the next BIG THING? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/24 "2018-01-08T19:17:29Z")
Campaign slogan: _It’s MEEEEEEE!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/25 "2018-01-08T19:21:24Z")
[She’s already come out with a campaign ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2sx8Bc4mAw) I’m sold. I think we should make it a daytime TV ticket. Winfrey/DeGeneres 2020! ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/26 "2018-01-08T19:23:15Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > No no no no no no no no no no no no no. > > If there is _anything_ we as a culture _need_ to have learned from the Trump administration, it is that knowing what the fuck you’re doing should not be optional when the job is “most powerful person on the planet”. > [@Lantern](#): > > . . . President isn’t an entry-level position and we have had a whole year’s worth of demonstration of that proposition. Exactly why does anyone think that Oprah has the policy chops to deal with a serious geopolitical or economic crisis ? Please. . .plenty of Presidents had no political experience (Taylor, Grant, Eisenhower) including George Washington. And one of the most qualified (in terms of political experience) James Buchanan’s Presidency was a leading factor in the run up to the Civil War. And W H Harrison, Tyler, and Polk were all career politicians and what do we remember from their terms? Trump is not a bad President because of his lack of experience. Oprah would be a bad President not because of her lack of experience but because, as **running coach** put it, “[she] is so fond of promoting charlatans.” mc ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/27 "2018-01-08T19:47:36Z")
High-level military experience \*\*is \*\*political experience and highly relevant to the central task of the President to serve as commander-in-chief. So no, you can’t compare Grant and Eisenhower to Trump and Oprah. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/28 "2018-01-08T20:22:54Z")
Please don’t. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/29 "2018-01-08T20:36:24Z")
Drain the swamp! Drain the swamp! Make America Disco Again. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/30 "2018-01-08T20:42:33Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > Please. . .plenty of Presidents had no political experience (Taylor, Grant, Eisenhower) including George Washington. And one of the most qualified (in terms of political experience) James Buchanan’s Presidency was a leading factor in the run up to the Civil War. And W H Harrison, Tyler, and Polk were all career politicians and what do we remember from their terms? > > Trump is not a bad President because of his lack of experience. > Oprah would be a bad President not because of her lack of experience but because, as **running coach** put it, “[she] is so fond of promoting charlatans.” > > mc > [@Lantern](#): > > High-level military experience \*\*is \*\*political experience and highly relevant to the central task of the President to serve as commander-in-chief. So no, you can’t compare Grant and Eisenhower to Trump and Oprah. I agree, I have to call Bull Shit it equating Oprah’s or Trump’s experience as equal to the Generals. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/31 "2018-01-08T20:43:12Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > Please. . .plenty of Presidents had no political experience (Taylor, Grant, Eisenhower) including George Washington. And one of the most qualified (in terms of political experience) James Buchanan’s Presidency was a leading factor in the run up to the Civil War. And W H Harrison, Tyler, and Polk were all career politicians and what do we remember from their terms? > … Um…being President today is more complicated than it was back then. Like most everything else. Hell, being a kid today is more complicated than it was back then. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/32 "2018-01-08T21:11:09Z")
She would be better than some old war horse like Biden but then again almost anybody would be better than him. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/33 "2018-01-08T21:13:44Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > She would be better than some old war horse like Biden but then again almost anybody would be better than him. Please share your reasoning on that. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/34 "2018-01-08T21:17:42Z")
She would never get elected… Of course the same was said about trump. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/35 "2018-01-08T21:18:29Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > And W H Harrison, Tyler, and Polk were all career politicians and what do we remember from their terms? Polk? In four short years he met his every goal. He seized the whole southwest from Mexico. Made sure the tariffs fell and made the English sell the Oregon territory. He built an independent treasury. Having done all this he sought no second term. So maybe you shouldn’t wanna criticize Mister James K. Polk, our eleventh president, Young Hickory, Napoleon of the Stump. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/36 "2018-01-08T21:28:36Z")
What exactly has Biden done other than stay in Washington for over 40 years? What did he run or manage? At least Oprah started and ran a successful business empire during those 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/37 "2018-01-08T21:31:13Z")
I’m not trying to equate Oprah and Trump with anyone. My point was that political experience is not a good metric. There have been good and bad Presidents with little or no political experience and there have been good and bad Presidents with loads of political experience. There is no other job like President. There is no “proper” career path one should take. If you limit Presidents by their political experience, then you also limit the candidates by experience. Which means that people like Horace Greeley, Victoria Woodhull, Eugene Debs, Clarence Darrow, Ross Perot, Ralph Nader, Jesse Jackson, et al would never have run for President. Now I’m not saying they would have made good Presidents, but they had significant effects on the national conversation on who should, and would, be elected. And their candidacies have made this a better country. mc ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/38 "2018-01-08T21:45:28Z")
If you want to make Trump look good and cause a country to get over Trump immediately, electing Oprah would sure do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/39 "2018-01-08T22:24:04Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > I’m not trying to equate Oprah and Trump with anyone. My point was that political experience is not a good metric. There have been good and bad Presidents with little or no political experience and there have been good and bad Presidents with loads of political experience. There is no other job like President. There is no “proper” career path one should take. > > If you limit Presidents by their political experience, then you also limit the candidates by experience. Which means that people like Horace Greeley, Victoria Woodhull, Eugene Debs, Clarence Darrow, Ross Perot, Ralph Nader, Jesse Jackson, et al would never have run for President. Now I’m not saying they would have made good Presidents, but they had significant effects on the national conversation on who should, and would, be elected. And their candidacies have made this a better country. > > mc Nonsense. There are better and worse paths to the Oval Office. A better path is one that has involved administrative responsibilities and exposure to foreign affairs and how the government actual works. A worse path is “popular TV talk show host”. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148/40 "2018-01-08T22:32:43Z")
…Oprah declared in October that she would not consider running in 2020. > **[Running for office apparently not one of Oprah’s favorite things | CNN Politics](https://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/18/politics/oprah-not-running-in-2020/index.html)** > > Media mogul Oprah Winfrey squashed any speculation of a potential 2020 presidential bid in a Wednesday interview on “CBS This Morning.” > [@](#): > > “There will be no running for office of any kind for me,” Winfrey said after host Gayle King teased about narrowing her shortlist of vice presidential candidates. The reports on CNN (that I’ve seen) say this: > [@](#): > > One of the sources said these conversations **date back several months**. The person emphasized that Winfrey has not made up her mind about running. > **[Sources: Oprah Winfrey 'actively thinking' about running for president](https://money.cnn.com/2018/01/08/media/oprah-golden-globes/index.html)** > > Two of Oprah Winfrey's close friends say she is "actively thinking" about running for president in 2020. Does the OP have anything stronger than speculation and conversations going back several months? Because it looks like everyone is getting wound up over nothing at the moment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-on-cnn-oprah-winfrey-seriously-thinking-about-running-for-potus-in-2020/806148.md?page=3)